What, Jethmalani questioned at one point, compelled Jaitley to decide that the damage is irreparable?
Two of India's biggest legal eagles faced off in the Delhi High Court on Monday as Ram Jethmalani cross-examined Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, a lawyer by profession himself.
The legal thrust and parry centred largely around the reputational worth of a man who runs India's Rs 167 lakh crore economy, in nominal terms, and presided for 14 years over the cash-rich – though some might pejoratively term it a cash cow – Delhi and District Cricket Association.
In December 2015, Jaitley filed a defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders, citing 'irreversible and irreparable loss of reputation' over public allegations of financial impropriety on his watch at the cricket body.
He is seeking Rs 10 crore in damages.
Jethmalani's attack on Monday centred around the question of Jaitley's self-appraisal of his reputation as he demanded to know how Jaitley called the damage to his reputation "irreparable and unquantifiable" and whether it had anything to do with his "personal feelings of greatness".
Indeed, most of his 50-odd questions to Jaitley sought to prove that the defamation case was unfounded. "There is no objective rational reason, besides the value that you put on yourself," the veteran lawyer contended.
Jaitley, who submitted evidence in support of his civil defamation suit during the last hearing on December 6, 2016, was not one to be cowed down, though. "All facts are plain and clear. My reputation has been damaged," he insisted.
What, Jethmalani questioned at one point, compelled Jaitley to decide that the damage is irreparable?
To which Jaitley responded: "The loss of my reputation has been partly quantified in terms of money. Loss of a reputation causes mental distress to the person defamed, which it did in my case."
Jethmalani retorted, "In other words it was your personal impression and feeling about your greatness, that it can't be estimated in terms of fiscal terms."
He also accused Jaitley of trying to influence Chetan Sanghi, the Delhi government's vigilance chief who was a part of three-member inquiry committee that investigated complaints by cricketers against DDCA, and persuading him to go back on his report.
The Sanghi committee had relied on documents submitted by the cricketers themselves and testimonies of people connected with DDCA.
Also present in court was former India team member and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirti Azad who along with veteran spinner and former Team India captain Bishen Singh Bedi has been leading a 'Clean DDCA' movement for at least seven years now. In the course of their campaign, the duo had also written hundreds of letters and messages to then DDCA president Jaitley.
DDCA's own internal inquiry revealed instances of money being routed to ghost companies which did not exist at the addresses mentioned in the bills.
Azad's persistence also led to an inquiry by the Corporate Affairs Ministry's Serious Fraud Investigation Organisation (SFIO), and which listed 62 instances of misuse of funds, non-payment of taxes, not following the tendering route, appointment of tainted auditors, and irregularities in management of membership and ticketing, among others.
"Several inquiry reports were kept on the back-burner during Jaitley's time and the cricketers were running like headless chickens trying to get him (Jaitley) to act against the crooks who were looting the Association and ruining cricket in DDCA," Azad told DNA.
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